ABOUT JENI
Jeni Bern is a light lyric soprano of exceptional versatility. She has a “beautiful, clear and confident voice” and “poise on stage that is compelling to watch.” “Her musicality, tenderness and sprightliness of inflection are delectable” and Jeni combines her superb musicianship with excellent acting skills and a vibrant personality: she is “a treat to watch.”





full biography
Born in Glasgow of Scots/ Irish heritage, soprano Jeni Bern is an artist of exceptional versatility, with a repertoire that spans everything from Baroque to Broadway. Her unique skills as a singing actor have delighted audiences all over the world and she is equally at home singing operatic heroines to Music Theatre’s feisty leading ladies. A prize winning graduate of both the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and the Opera School of the Royal College of Music , including the prestigious President Emerita Award, she is also a Samling Artist and a Wingate scholar.
Highlights in recent seasons include Professor Prentice in the world premiere of Anthropocene and First Lady The Magic Flute for Scottish Opera; Greta Fiorentino Street Scene at the Teatro Real and Opéra de Monte-Carlo - winner of the prestigious; Diamont ’opera award, Woglinde and Waldvogel Der Ring des Nibelungen for Opera North; Lilli Vanessi/Katharine Kiss Me, Kate for Welsh National Opera and Opera North; and Susie Trevor Lady, Be Good! at the Teatro de la Zarzuela and Teatro di San Carlos.
Her varied stage roles have included Paquette Candide (Théâtre du Châtelet, Teatro alla Scala and Hyogo Performing Arts Centre, Japan); also for Théâtre du Châtelet – Zdenka Arabella and Sister Margaretta/Baroness Elsa The Sound of Music; Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Musetta La bohème, Susanna The Marriage of Figaro, Trixie Let ‘em Eat Cake, Gretel Hansel & Gretel and La Princesse L’enfant et les sortilèges (Opera North); Emma Jones Street Scene (Opéra de Toulon). Roles for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden include Guardian of the Threshold Die Frau ohne Schatten, First Heavenly Voice Palestrina, Barbarina Le nozze di Figaro and Blumenmädchen Parsifal (with Plácido Domingo); Fiordiligi Così fan tutte, Mabel The Pirates of Penzance, Yum Yum The Mikado, and Sophie Der Rosenkavalier (English National Opera); Amour Orphée et Eurydice (Welsh National Opera); Medea Teseo and Susanna The Marriage of Figaro (English Touring Opera); Eurydice Orpheus in the Underworld (Opera Holland Park); Musetta La bohème and Oscar Un ballo in maschera (Opera Zuid). She has also performed the title role in Deidamia and Sigismondo Arminio (London Handel Festival); Atalanta Xerxes and Dalinda Ariodante (Early Opera Company); and Narcissa Philemon und Baucis with Trevor Pinnock.
Jeni is in demand as an accomplished oratorio and concert artist. performance highlights include Cunegonde Candide (MDR-sinfonieorchester, Leipzig); Carmina Burana, Mozart Exsultate Jubilate and the world premiere of Michael Torke’s Book of Proverbs with Marin Alsop (Royal Scottish National Orchestra);the world premiere of Vivaldi’s Motezuma with Federico Maria Sardelli, for De Doelen, Rotterdam and Handel Messiah under Sir David Willcocks (The Bach Choir). She has also performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Gabrieli Consort, The Sixteen, The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, St. Gallen Bachchor Radio appearances include BBC Radio 2’s iconic Friday Night is Music Night and broadcasts for BBC Radios 3 & 4 and with the Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra as Anne Truelove in the television series Of Beauty and Consolation. Her CD Let the Bright Seraphim with Baroque trumpeter Crispian Steele-Perkins (Carlton Classics) received considerable critical acclaim. Other recordings include Acis and Galatea with the Oxford Philomusica (Nimbus); Haydn Stabat Mater with Christ Church Cathedral Choir (Griffin) and Edward Joseph Collins Hymn to the Earth with the RSNO and Marin Alsop. Film and television work includes soundtracks for the BBC’s Daniel Deronda, the film Cashback and Disney’s African Cats.
During the pandemic, Jeni took up her other favourite role as a Celebrant, helping bereaved families say goodbye during incredibly difficult times.
It’s her great privilege to be a voice for others when they can't find the words themselves, Please follow the link to see more of Jeni’s celebrant work.